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THE HISTORY OF
NASHUA, IOWA
A BRIEF HISTORIC OVERVIEW
OF NASHUA
FROM 1855 - 2005
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- THE HISTORY OF NASHUA, IOWA –
THE LOCATION
“The Big Woods,” extending from Janesville to Charles City, about
40 miles long and 8 miles wide, was the best timber in Iowa. Bradford
Township was in this area. Early settlers had the materials for building
log cabins, sheds for livestock, rail fences, and fuel near at hand. They
also had a reliable water supply from the Red Cedar River. Many saw
mills were set up and moved up the river as the supply of timber was cut
off. Later, some lumber mills were converted into mills for grinding
grain.
Bradford Township got its name from Bradford, the chief of the
Chickasaw Indian tribe. Chief Bradford was widely known in this
section of Iowa prior to 1860. Traders and trappers drifted in along the
Cedar River as early as 1840, but the first settlers came in 1848. Some
of the first settlers were men who got their land from the government on
land warrants issued to them as soldiers of the Mexican War. They had
first choice and chose locations along the river, the best land in the state
of Iowa. One of the settlers was Truman Merritt and his daughter, Elvira
Merritt, the first white child born in Bradford Township and Chickasaw
County. Merritt first settled in the Indian Trading Post and later moved
to his farm south of Greenwood. Elmer Case was the first white male
born in the county near Greenwood in 1851.
BRADFORD
The village of Bradford grew fast, crowded with travelers, land
seekers, and immigrants. In 1851, John Bird, a pioneer from New
Hampshire, started building the “House of Seven Gables.” This building
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would serve as the first court house for Chickasaw County. John Bird
was the first sheriff appointed under the title of “Organizing Sheriff.” He
played a key role in organizing Chickasaw County. Bird was a man of
some means and started construction of his fine home almost
immediately. This was in an era when many settlers were living in sod
houses or crudely-cut log cabins.
In 1855, Bradford was a typical pioneer town of approximately 500
inhabitants. Bradford citizens were genuine frontiersmen; bold, hardy
people who were willing to undergo all kinds of dangers and hardships
to make a home for themselves. Most settlers were highly-educated
men and women, who had left pleasant, cultured eastern homes to
become the “advance guard of civilization.”
The principal businesses in Bradford included general stores, hotels,
wagon makers, a harness shop, tannery, a broom and organ factory,
civil engineers, lawyers, a doctor’s office, brewery, post office and
shoemaker. The mail came to Bradford by stage coach from McGregor
and later from Sturgis Falls (Cedar Falls) by horseback. Joseph Bird, Jr.
carried mail between Bradford and Cedar Falls. Bird also roomed with
the late Dr. W. S. Pitts, author of “The Church in the Wildwood.”
Greenwood, located southwest of Bradford on the Little Cedar
River, was a small community. Greenwood contained a saw mill, a
furniture factory, and later a grist mill and school.
The Little Brown Church was dedicated in 1864. Reverend Nutting
was the first minister. Previously, church was held in homes and empty
buildings, beginning with the organization of the Congregational Church
at Bradford in 1856. The first church services, for both the
Congregational and Methodist denominations in the county, were held
at the “House of Seven Gables” in Bradford.
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EARLY EDUCATION
The first public grammar school was established in Bradford in
1852. This was also the first grammar school in the county. The
Academy was started in 1861, held in the upstairs of a store building
before the actual building of the school. It was the first institution of
higher learning. This brought 80 to 120 students to Bradford. Rev.
Nutting and his nephew, Mr. Bennett, were the first instructors. Many of
the students of the Academy became successful teachers and
ministers. The Academy lasted for sixteen years, closing in 1877. The
Academy building became the county’s first high school. Bradford’s
High School was discontinued years later as the public school in
Nashua grew in academic strength. In 1887 Bradford lost its high
school. The bell from the Academy is displayed on the Little Brown
Church grounds.
NASHUA PIONEERS
Nashua was becoming a dangerous rival to Bradford in the area of
population and business. The strong water power gave Nashua a
considerable advantage over Bradford and Greenwood.
The first man to settle in what is now Nashua was John Hall, who
came in the summer of 1854, when there was only one log house. Hall
erected a frame building and he and his family were compelled to pass
the winter in it without the necessary protection against the wintry
blasts. Many houses and other businesses in town sprang up. Other
families who came in 1855 were: H. Hall, J. D. Hall, Jacob Hall, Edward
Hall, James Helms, John Hugh, George O’Donnell, Owen Teeney,
James Welch, and Enoch “Deacon” Woodbridge.
The original Nashua plat was surveyed in 1855, when there was little
in the way of businesses or settlers. “Deacon” Enoch Woodbridge and
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Andrew Sample recommended the town be surveyed and recorded.
The land belonged to Andrew Sample, but selling or trading a half
interest to Enoch Woodbridge, they platted a town and first called it
Bridgeport, but shortly changed it to Woodbridge. Charles A. and E. P.
Greeley had in some way acquired the title to the town plat and
changed the name to Nashua in honor of their hometown of Nashua,
New Hampshire.
The first two stores in Nashua were Smiley Sample’s Grocery and
Liquor store, and E. P. Greeley’s General Store, built in 1856. John Hall
and Mr. Stephenson were the first carpenters, John Butler, the first
blacksmith, John Colt, the first wagon maker, and W. Reed, the first
shoemaker. The Nashua post office was established May 10, 1858, with
Andrew Sample the first postmaster.
John Coler, who came to Nashua in 1854, purchased all of the land
south of what is now Lexington Avenue. He did considerable toward
improving the town when it was new; donating land for the railroad and
giving an extra lot to everyone who purchased a lot of his, and who
would erect a house. This encouraged the building of new residences.
SCHOOLS
Nashua’s first school was in a log house. The teacher was Miss
Maggie Nichols, an adopted daughter of Enoch Woodbridge. This log
school was located on the corner where the United Methodist Church
now stands. Later a frame structure was built close to where the
present high school is located. This wooden building was sold to the
Methodist Church for $210 and moved toward town, later to be moved
again, then torn down.
In 1869, the Nashua Independent School District Board of Directors
made a contract with S. W. Byers to construct a brick school house in
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the amount of $10,750.00. At the time it housed the entire school in the
four rooms. An addition, which was built on the west side, was later
torn down when the newer building was constructed.
In 1903, a newer structure was built beside the 1869 school
building, giving much needed space for the increasing enrollment in the
public school system. Later additions were built in 1936 as well as
1962. The 1869 building stood until July of 1962 when the present
Nashua Elementary School was being completed. This building had
been used for the primary grades once the high school building was
built in 1903. Many remember the catwalk that connected the
“Assembly Room” with a third floor classroom in the old 1869 building.
The Ward school was used in the Brooklyn section of Nashua until
1919 when students were transported across the river to the main
school facilities. This building still stands and is used as the Big Four
Fair secretary’s office.
The 1903 high school building was demolished in 1982 and a new
addition and remodeling of the high school facility was completed and
dedicated on February 6, 1983. The Nashua Community School District
began a whole-grade sharing agreement with the Plainfield Community
School in 1991. Several years later, in 1997, voters from both districts
agreed to consolidate forming the Nashua-Plainfield Community School
District.
DAMS
There were several dams built across the river and a small saw mill
erected at the south end of the dam. When timber for sawing became
scarce, the machinery was removed from the saw mill and converted
into a grist mill. John Harrison took charge of the mill as miller and
remained in that capacity until he retired.
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In 1857, the old mill was demolished by E. P. Greeley. Andrew
Sample built a grist mill on the south bank of the Red Cedar. E. P.
Greeley replaced it in 1862 with a larger merchant mill, with granite
foundation and a five-story frame structure, complete with an entire new
system of modern rollers. This mill burned down in 1899. The
foundation of the old Greeley mill is now the stone wall used as an
observation and fishing area south and east of the current dam and
powerhouse.
With the erection of the dam over the Cedar River and the
installation of the Cedar Valley Electric Power Plant in 1916, Nashua
became a town on a controlled Cedar Lake. The best view of the lake is
from the Cannon Park. This land was sold or given to the city of Nashua
in 1913 for use as a public park. Named the Cedar View Park, it was
specified that the grounds could be used as a chautauqua grounds
under control of the town council.
When the park was given a cannon and a boulder with a bronze
tablet in 1929, it was renamed Cannon Park. On Armistice Day,
November 11, 1929, the stone was unveiled and dedicated by the
members of the Nashua’s Women’s Relief Corps. The monument
honors those who gave their lives in the Civil War and all future wars.
The boulder, which required a twelve-horse team to bring to the park,
originated at the Bertha Parish Mitchell farm two miles west of Nashua.
The original cannon is no longer there. It was removed during the First
World War and melted down for the war effort. The current cannon is a
captured 75 mm. Japanese Howitzer 3 inch gun on wheels from W. W.
II.
In May of 1963, after a damaging flood, operation of the
hydroelectric power plant was discontinued by the Iowa Public Service
Company. Years of time and neglect took its toll on the dam. The last
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control gate broke in 1982 and the dam was no longer able to function.
The lake, which had long been an important part of Nashua’s identity,
soon dried up.
The people and businesses of Nashua, former citizens, relatives and
a host of friends from surrounding communities contributed money for
restoration of the dam in conjunction with the state legislature and Iowa
Public Service. The lake was dredged and construction began in 1989.
On March 8, 1990, after many years of waiting, the lake was filled for
the first time in close to a decade. After the powerhouse gates were
closed, it took just 8 hours for water to run over the control gate. Later
that June, Nashuans hosted the first annual "Water Over the Dam Days"
celebration.
NEWSPAPERS
The first newspaper, the Cedar Valley News was established in
Bradford in 1857 and was short lived. The first Nashua paper, The
Post, was founded in 1867 by Andy Felt. Felt later became Lieutenant
Governor of the State of Kansas. The first edition appeared May 22,
1867. In 1918, The Post was purchased by E.G. Ellison, the publisher
of The Reporter. It then became The Nashua Reporter and Weekly
Post.
There was another paper in Nashua in the 1880s and 1890s-- The
Nashua Times, founded in 1885 by J. D. Knapp. It was this paper's
equipment that was purchased and used by The Reporter in 1893. The
Times was then published by E. B. Perry, and instead of continuing his
paper, the new owners founded another one under a new name.
The Nashua Reporter and Weekly Post was later sold it to Robert
J. Goodsell. He had been working in The Reporter office for some time
as printer and reporter before purchasing the business. He was called
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into the Army late in World War II, and The Reporter suspended
publication for about 18 months. During this time a "free sheet" was
published and distributed by a Cedar Falls print shop. Following his
military service the newspaper resumed publication in 1945. Goodsell
continued the business until January 1, 1948, when it was sold to yet
another publisher.
On July 1, 1951, Tom D. and Leila Conklin, took over. The Conklins
came here from New Ulm, Minnesota, a city of approximately 10,000
citizens, where Tom had been managing editor of The New Ulm Daily
Journal. Leila was new to the publishing field, but she displayed
marked aptitude for printing and was soon able to run, expertly, every
back shop machine save the typesetting machines.
The Fredericksburg News was purchased by the Conklins in
September of 1951, and about a year thereafter consolidated the two
print shops in Nashua. This made it necessary to move into larger
quarters, the former Diamond Brothers Grocery store across the street.
Under the Conklins, The Nashua Reporter had grown to the greatest
circulation in its history, averaging more than 1870 issues per week
through the year.
The Reporter has had four different office locations. When
established in 1893, the office and printing plant were in the second
story rooms of the three-story Greeley building on the west side of Main
Street.
DOCTORS
Dr. Dewey, Nashua’s first physician and druggist, migrated from
New York in 1862. In 1866, he left his practice to lecture about the
medical field in the Midwest. He returned to Nashua each spring to
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work on his farm property. Dr. Dewey was also an early editor of the
Nashua Post. He purchased the paper in 1889.
Dr. Troy, who had been a physician in Bradford, returned from the
Civil War and became a partner in the drug business with Mr. Morrison.
Nashua has always maintained a good local physician. Doctors
Dewey, Troy, Spaulding, Straus, Tucker, Henry, Aldrich, Waters, Horton,
Goodale, Cole, Brackett, Myers, Browne, Stuart, McDannell,
Blatherwick, Pelz, Clark, Ackerman, Turner, Trefz, Weinmeister, Schiller,
Benson, Schweizer, Bloom and Blum have all served the needs of the
Nashua community.
INCORPORATION
Nashua became an incorporated town on June 3, 1867. The first
officers were: T. S. Bradford, mayor; O. F. Herron, recorder; M.
Rosenbaum, J. Vance, James A. Webster, A. L. Flint, and W. A. Fleming,
councilmen; A. Herron, marshall; George Wood, street commissioner.
The charter election was held and 146 votes were cast and the town
recorded a population of 745. Those men who signed the petition for
incorporation were: E. D. Woodbridge, S. P. Leland, E. P. Greeley, R. M.
Nevins, S. W. Byers, A. J. Felt, John Coler.
With the city now incorporated, the official board realized the
importance and necessity of furnishing a safe and easy crossing and the
high grade connecting the north end of the bridge with the high bank
northeast of the flat was determined. The town gave some money and
labor and with the help of some money from Chickasaw County, the
work on the grade or turnpike was completed to secure the bridge
crossing. Mr. R. M. Nevins planted willow slips, which eventually helped
to reinforce the grade from frequent washings.
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BRIDGES
For a considerable time in the early days, there was no bridge over
the Cedar River at Nashua. When the water was low, teams of horses
crossed by fording. A flat boat ferry was established for conveying
teams across the river when the water was too high for fording. This
ferry was in use as late as 1863. In 1864, the county voted to spend
$4,000 out of the swamp fund for the proposed bridge across the Cedar
at Nashua. In June, 1866, more money was needed, so $500 was
added to the tax money and $1500 was raised by popular subscription.
The wooden bridge was completed in 1867. An iron bridge replaced the
original wooden bridge in 1878. A steel bridge, the last on this location,
was assembled in 1921 and remained in use until the fall of 1984 when it
was replaced with a concrete bridge below the dam.
RAILROADS
In 1868, the Cedar Falls and Minnesota branch of the Illinois Central
Railroad was completed to Nashua from the south. This established
Nashua as a strong community for commerce. It was largely through
the Greeley family that Nashua secured the location of the Illinois
Central Railroad.
Nashua increased rapidly in population and in businesses and in a
few years the population was more than one thousand inhabitants. The
railroad was also the death blow for Bradford. One after another,
Bradford’s businesses were vacated. Buildings were removed or torn
down. Citizens departed and streets became deserted as they moved
west to Nashua, a more favorable location.
In the early 1870’s, E. P. Greeley promoted the Milwaukee & Nashua
Railroad, generally known as the Greeley Railroad. It was to be a
branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway and to extend
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from Ionia through Nashua and Clarksville southwest to the coal fields
and Des Moines. The right of way was secured and grading was done
from Ionia to Clarksville, and ties were on the ground from Ionia to west
of Nashua. It was a promising project and it was no fault of the
promoters that it failed to operate. The panic of 1873 came and the
bonds could not be sold and the work was suspended. The
construction was never to be resumed. The depot was to have been
about two blocks east of the Illinois Central depot. The road extended
north across the Cedar, passed the fairgrounds, and continued
northeast to Ionia.
BUSINESSES
By 1867, Nashua supported water power, timber land, two boot
shops, one shoe shop, a wagon factory, two saw mills, one lawyer, a
flour mill, one cooper shop, two lath and shingle mills, a steam saw mill,
three blacksmiths, a woolen factory, a brick manufacturer near Pearl
Rock, a hardware store, a tin shop, four dry foods stores, one variety
store, a drug store, a printing office, one millinery, two hotels, one meat
market, six mechanics shops, mail service, and five churches.
The Rosenbaum Brothers opened a private banking office in 1874,
one of the first in Chickasaw County, which was succeeded by Loser &
Slimmer. After the retirement of Mr. Slimmer, it became the Banking
House of Lipman Loser. A stock company was formed and bought out
the firm, and organized the First State Bank of Nashua.
Another bank was established in 1875. Two years later, it was
reorganized under the name First National Bank, with A. G. Case,
President, and A. J. Felt, Cashier. This bank was dissolved in November
of 1894, and became a private bank, known as A. G. Case & Co.,
Bankers. In 1915, the Case bank organized into a state bank - The
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Commercial State Savings Bank. This bank suspended in April of 1927,
and later that year the Nashua State Bank was organized.
In August, 1931 the Nashua State Bank was merged with the First
State Bank, with the title “First Nashua State Bank” continuing to do its
banking under the charter of the First State Bank granted in 1909. This
institution was a continuation of the bank established by the
Rosenbaums in 1874. In 1992 a new bank building was constructed on
Cedar Street. Lincoln Savings Bank, from Reinbeck, Iowa, merged with
the First Nashua State Bank on May 1, 1999.
First State Bank of Britt located a branch bank in Nashua. A new
building was built on Main Street and opened on September 27, 2004.
The first hotel in Nashua was a frame structure upon the corner
where the DeNoyelle’s house was constructed. It was owned by
Montgomery and built by John Hall. The Castle Hotel was built in 1857
on the river bank where the Cannon Park is located. Early in the 1870’s,
it was moved to Main Street to be nearer to the depot. In 1875 the
Castle Hotel burned.
Nashua had one of the few successful woolen mills in Iowa, which
was owned by William J. Bowen & Son. Local wool was spun into six
grades of thread used to manufacture a large range of products, from
the finest cloth to the coarse horse blankets. The United States Navy
contracted 200,000 blankets in September of 1919. After a disastrous
fire in September of 1923, and again in November of 1926, the factory
moved to Cedar Falls.
In 1892, the Nashua Pickle Factory contracted 100 acres of
cucumbers. The year before, they shipped 20 rail cars of pickles to
Chicago. Slowly, area farmers began growing more traditional crops
and this part of Nashua commerce failed.
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Nashua was the site of the manufacturing plant for Bloom Spreaders
and harrow parts for many years. Hauser Manufacturing also made
spreaders in addition to parts for the Army Engineer Corp. and cabs for
Shield-Bantam in Waverly.
The Nashua Creamery was a pioneer in the great dairy industry,
having the distinction of being the first creamery in the United States to
use all machine separated cream in the manufacture of its butter. This
took place in 1897, when the creamery was privately owned, and
operated by W. I. Moody, who was also the agent for the Sharpless
Cream Separator in that early day. The Nashua Creamery Association
was established on April 20, 1894 and operated for 10 years. The
Nashua Creamery Association and P. M. Sharples Creamery were both
in operation in 1900. The Farmers Co-operative Creamery Association
of Nashua made its initial beginning at a meeting held Dec. 8, 1901. The
creamery was incorporated and directors were chosen during the
January 1902 meeting. G. H. Gurler sold his creamery and curd plant to
the newly formed association. A fire in 1911 destroyed the creamery.
Temporary quarters were used until a new creamery was finished in the
fall of 1914.
There was a big gain in the butter production at the Nashua Farmers
Co-operative Creamery in 1940. Here is an idea that may help you
visualize the large quantity of butter manufactured that year. Imagine
the Kirkland Hotel, Nashua’s largest downtown structure, being
surfaced on the outside with pound cartons of butter, laid like bricks.
Then imagine 4 more buildings the same size, in other words, a total of
five buildings the size of the hotel built out of butter. This is a total of
599,241 pounds of butter made in Nashua in 1940.
With the decline in area dairy farmers, increased competition, the
change from canned to bulk milk and stricter waste water regulation on
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the industry, it became difficult to justify modernizing the Nashua
Creamery. On April 29, 1977, the last batch of cheese was made and
operations ceased at the Farmers Co-operative Creamery Association of
Nashua.
In 1872, a new fairgrounds was completed in the Brooklyn section
of Nashua and hosted a four county fair. The fairgrounds were
established by the Union Agricultural Society. In 1900, The Big Four Fair
Society was organized which replaced the Union Agricultural Society.
In the 1920’s, the Kendall Christian Women’s Home was established
for widows in the Andrew Sample house on the lofty hill at 208 Cedar
Street. Several years later, the home was sold and the business moved
to Cedar Falls.
The Nashua Equity Cooperative Association stemmed from the
purchase in 1917 of A. H. Nafus & Sons Elevator and operated as a
cooperative. In 1924 the company was reorganized as a corporation
under the 1935 Iowa cooperative law. The Bellamy Lumber Company
was purchased in 1951. The Equity Cooperative had expanded and
offered a wide range of service to its members and the Nashua
community. This included: a locker plant, a lumber yard, coal sales, an
elevator, grinding and milling facilities, a fertilizer plant, petroleum (fuel
oil & LP) as well as redi-mix. The J. F. Anderson Lumber Company was
purchased and the lumber department moved to the Anderson yard,
now the site of Nashua Lumber, on Main Street.
The lumber division of the Nashua Equity Cooperative was sold to
Strotman Building Center and the redi-mix plant purchased by
Schroeder Concrete. This occurred several years before the Nashua
Equity Cooperative Association was purchased by Farmer’s Co-op, now
the Five Star Co-op, on September 1, 1985.
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The Nashua branch of the Crystal Ice and Fuel Company was
established in 1920 and had furnished hundreds of tons of high quality
natural ice for the refrigerators in this community. The ice was also used
for refrigeration of freight cars for the Illinois Central Railroad. The ice
house, built here in 1920, was one of the largest in this section of Iowa.
A large crew of men worked on the ice harvest every winter and a
smaller car loading crew and delivery force worked there during the
summer months. On a good days run, 72 to 78 railcars would be loaded
with ice to be used by the railroad and surrounding communities. In the
spring of 1946, a strong wind caved in the roof of the local ice house,
thus ending the “ice harvest” for Nashua.
The Bric-Block Company at Nashua began in March of 1947. This
company was sold in 1948 to N. T. Fosse and it became known as the
Nashua Tile Company, and later, the Hydrotile Machinery Company.
Hydrotile became Nashua’s largest employer, first manufacturing tile
and cement pipe, then later developing and manufacturing concrete
products equipment. Products from Hydrotile were sold worldwide and
additional production facilities were built in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada
and Blaubeuren, West Germany. The Black Clawson Company bought
Hydrotile and it became a subsidiary known as BC Hydrotile. BC
Hydrotile operated in Nashua until 1991 when a competitor bought the
division from Black Clawson. The factory was purchased by Featherlite
Inc., of Cresco, Iowa. Aluminum trailers were made here until April of
2001.
NASHUA PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Nashua Carnegie Library was erected in 1905 and opened to
the public after a program at the Nashua Opera House in January of
1906. The building, built on the site of the E. P. Greeley Mansion, was
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constructed of pressed brick and Bedford Stone trimmings with a
beautiful red tile roof. The total cost of the new library was $6,000.
Andrew Carnegie, of United States Steel Company wealth, donated
$5,000 to Nashua for the construction of the building. He stipulated that
the community must provide the site and an annual maintenance before
he would commit his money to the building of a library. Carnegie would
give over $300 million back to society and created one of the largest
philanthropic associations in the world.
Miss Fannie Eastman was the first librarian and remained in that
position for about a half a century. A beautiful addition to the public
library was completed in 1986.
CEMETERIES
The Oak Hill Cemetery Association was established on February 4,
1868. R. M. Nevins was the first president of the Association. Lots
were sold for $5 per lot and all proceeds were used to buy the original 8
acres that make up the east end of the cemetery. On June 19, 1868,
Mrs. Sarah Carpenter became the first person buried in the cemetery. A
road had to be cut through the bush for the funeral party.
On May 26, 1904, Saint Michael’s Cemetery ground was purchased
from W. F. Getsch and the old cemetery at Pearl Rock was no longer
used for burials.
CHURCHES
Nashua hosts churches of the leading denominations in fine
edifices.
METHODIST - Methodism began in the Nashua vicinity in 1851. The
first sermon preached in Chickasaw County was by a traveling
Methodist minister at the home of John Bird; the second by Rev. Mr.
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Coleman, a Congregational minister at the same place a few weeks
later. The first Methodist church edifice, the original Nashua wooden
school house, was obtained by the Methodist Episcopal Church at
Nashua at a cost of $800. The building was purchased in 1869. On
May 28, 1878 a building committee was elected. The congregation was
ready for a better place of worship. The following day the committee
authorized the purchase of stone for a foundation and construction
began yet that spring.
The church was dedicated on February 23, 1879, at which time
subscriptions were taken to liquidate the $7,500 cost. On June 5, 1884
this church building was destroyed by fire. Four days later, the
Quarterly Conference appointed a committee to settle with the
insurance companies.
An architect was hired and the lot south of the church site was
bought and construction began on the present church building and a
parsonage. The new Methodist Church was dedicated on April 26,
1885.
EPISCOPAL - St. Mark’s Episcopal Church of Nashua was
dedicated on July 11, 1869. The first service held in the church was on
June 19th, the funeral service of Mrs. Sarah Carpenter, who was also
the first person buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. The church was
consecrated by Bishop H. W. Lee on December 18, 1870, with the Rev.
Mr. Day of Waterloo and Rev. William Wright assisting. This is one of
the oldest Episcopal church buildings in Northern Iowa. The church,
located at 610 Lexington Ave., was built by Joseph Coler at a cost of
$1500. The church later used as a residence was torn down in the
1990’s.
CATHOLIC - The first Catholic Church at Nashua, located at 302
Madison Street, was erected in the year 1868 on property acquired in
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the same year. Previous to that time, Mass was offered in the country
home of the O’Donnell family and at the Dougherty place in town. In
1902 the property was sold and the current church property was
purchased from C. A. Greeley for $1,600. It was in August 1902 that
Reverend William A. Kunkel was appointed as the first resident pastor.
He at once set about having the church repaired and enlarged. A choir
loft was built and beautiful statues were donated by Father Kunkel
himself. In the fall of 1912 Reverend August Bomholt was sent to take
charge of the parish. He was an energetic priest, and under his able
leadership a new brick church, the present church, was built costing
approximately $18,000.
CONGREGATIONAL - The first meeting relative to organizing a
Congregational church in Nashua was held in a school house July 7,
1866. The organization of the church was not completed until August
16, 1866 with 16 charter members. For four years the young church
held services in the schoolhouse.
The church society was organized in 1866 and the old church was
dedicated July 3, 1870. Rev. J. K. Nutting was the first pastor. The
question of a new edifice was agitated culminating in the decision to
build and on May 29, 1914 the corner stone for the new structure was
laid. The building was completed in the spring of the following year and
on March 28, 1915 the church was dedicated free from debt.
LUTHERAN - In 1893 arrangements were made to hold services
above one of the store buildings in Nashua with the Rev. A. W. Guetzloff
Sr. of Ionia as pastor. On September 19, 1898 the congregation
incorporated under the name St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church. A
lot was obtained on Merrill Street and construction began on the west
edge of town at the site of the current church. It was finished in 1898 at
a cost of $1,277, a debt of $300 was liquidated in 1905. In 1928, the
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congregation of 70 confirmed members decided to relocate at the
corner of Cedar and Brasher Streets. The church structure was moved
and this church was used until disaster struck on February 25, 1961
when the building burned. On March 5, 1961 the congregation voted
unanimously to build the present church on Merrill Street. The
apartment building on Cedar Street now occupies the lot of the church
destroyed in 1961.
BAPTIST - Public Baptist church services were held in the Opera
House until a hall with a capacity of about 300 was rented for one year,
during which time arrangements were made for the building of an
edifice. Plans were secured from an Osage architect and work was
begun. On January 10, 1897, the beautiful house costing over $6,000
with furnaces, opera chairs, electric lights, etc. was dedicated with a
membership of 140. This church sat on the lot of the Old Bradford
Masonic Lodge Temple on Main Street.
WRITERS OBSERVATION
There have been many changes to Nashua in the past 150 years,
but one thing remains constant. Nashua, once referred to as the Gem
City of the Cedar Valley, is a friendly, caring community- a good place to
raise a family.
- Jerry Adelmund, June 12, 2005.
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Reference:
(1) The Weekly Nashua Post, Volume 1, Number 1, May 22, 1867.
(2) The History of Chickasaw & Howard Counties, Iowa. ©1883.
(3) The Weekly Nashua Post, Special Industrial Edition, April 1896.
(4) The Nashua Reporter, September 23, 1936.
(5) The Nashua Reporter, Golden Anniversary Edition, Aug. 4, 1943.
(6) The Nashua Reporter, Centennial Edition, October 6, 1955.
(7) Chickasaw County Iowa Pictorial Atlas, Histories. © 1978.
(8) Nashua - A Look Back In Time - The Nashua Reporter series, 2004-2005.
(9) “The Fair is Open to the World,” 100 years of Progress, History of the Big
Four Fair. 1900-2000.
(10) Website - Chickasaw County Genealogical Society.
(11) The Nashua Reporter - Sept. 27, 1948.
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